Training the mindSET – Improving and Internationalizing Skills Trainings for Doctoral Candidates Erasmus Project

Project Title

Training the mindSET – Improving and Internationalizing Skills Trainings for Doctoral Candidates

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Recognition, transparency, certification; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

CONTEXT: In many countries of Europe, the past decades have seen a reform of doctoral training from the individual ‘apprenticeship model’ to the structured ‘graduate school’. This institutionalized change is accompanied by the development of trainings in ‘transferable skills’ and the setting up of curricula in this field, yet many universities still experiment with the right quantities and qualities of these trainings, answering to unclear needs of early stage researchers and varying employment markets. This is especially true in the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) fields. The discussion on an ‘Europeanization’ of doctoral training has until now, however, missed any disciplinary specifications.

OBJECTIVES: This project aimed at developing a common European core curriculum in transferable skills for doctoral training, especially designed for the SET disciplines, including for example entrepreneurial, leadership, communication and organizational skills as well as education in research ethics and good scientific practice (IO1). Furthermore, the project wanted to serve as a resource for training the trainers, offering a training manual with detailed course outlines (IO2) and a coaching manual in transferable skills (IO5). Three tutorials have been shot to remove obstacles regarding the use and implementation of the other outputs at non-partner universities. The competence self-assessment tool (IO4) allows doctoral candidates to assess their strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, to elaborate a course schedule for closing skill gaps that is based on the curriculum and the training manual. Moreover, universities can use the self-assessment tool to check if their curriculum covers the needs specific for SET disciplines and if and to what extent their students have acquired the desired transferable skills.

In addition, training the mindSET was designed to enhance the possibilities of cross-national mobility of early stage researchers, trainers and academic staff and their orientation within an international employment market. It is a contribution to a deeper and broader Europeanization of doctoral training, an advancement of training in transferable skills for a new generation of researchers in disciplines decisive for our common future.

TARGET GROUP AND PARTICIPANTS: The prime target group of this project is supervisors, graduate schools and training centres, which are likely to benefit from the curriculum and the training and coaching manuals. Doctoral candidates have been involved in trainings and in the discussion and development of the manuals. They have been the target audience of the LTTAs besides the trainers. Special attention was paid to women as a minority in the SET disciplines and to international doctoral candidates studying at the partner universities. On a higher level, national and international stakeholders (professional organisations and umbrella institutions of science and research) have been targeted and made familiar with the project results. On the long run, this will contribute to developing and promoting results that are transferable to other universities, particularly in the EU but also beyond.

The participants of the LTTAs have been selected at each sending university, especially with regards to gender, so as to have, whenever possible, at least 50% female participants. In total, 164 doctoral candidates have participated in the LTTAs carried out throughout the project, all writing their thesis in a SET or closely related discipline, such as architecture.

ACTIVITIES: The project team has written the curriculum, manuals on training and coaching, developed the competence self-assessment tool and conceptualized three videotutorials to help other universities implement the outcomes of the project. Moreover, the project has been presented at various occasions to different stakeholders and target audiences, such as the council for doctoral education at EUA, the annual conference of UniWinD, and the multiplier events.

MAIN RESULTS AND IMPACT: A sustainable network of the partner universities for exchanging trainers, staff members and supervisors or doctoral candidates with respect to transferable skills qualifications has been set up. The results of the network have been applied and made public in open accessible manuals for the different training areas, various international and national conferences, and were disseminated to other European Universities of Technology. The contact and debates with policy makers and employers may result in an alteration of policies and priorities through mutual learning on the European level.

Project Website

http://www.mindset-project.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 298688,13 Eur

Project Coordinator

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT BERLIN & Country: DE

Project Partners

• NORGES TEKNISK-NATURVITENSKAPELIGE UNIVERSITET NTNU
• POLITECHNIKA WARSZAWSKA
• POLITECNICO DI MILANO